


Red Instead

by cutielemon07



Series: Autism Every Month [1]
Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Autism, Autistic!Cisco Ramon, Gen, Headcanon, May be a little OOC, No Romance, One Shot, PSA, all information true at time of writing, autism acceptance month, autism headcanon, autism speaks is bad, autistic author, barry is a good friend, but don't do that, cisco and caitlin explain why, cisco has autism, even on earth 2, go red instead, i did my best through my anger, light it up blue, no romantic relationships, red instead, some things never change, this has been a psa, walk in red
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-02
Updated: 2016-04-02
Packaged: 2018-05-30 20:08:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,701
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6438463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cutielemon07/pseuds/cutielemon07
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cisco comes out as autistic to Barry and he and Caitlin explain to the rest of the team why Autism Speaks is bad and why it's important to go Red Instead.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red Instead

Caitlin, Harry and Jesse were all in the Cortex already when Cisco showed up in red jeans, a red hoodie, red Converse and a red t-shirt. The t-shirt was, of course, a graphic t-shirt, though different from his usual nerdy attire in that it had a blue puzzle piece at the top with the 'do not enter' sign stamped over it. Below read in bold black letters 'Not A Puzzle Piece'.

"Hey Cisco." Caitlin greeted him as if nothing was out of the ordinary. She herself was wearing red high heels and a red blouse. 

"How are you today, Cisco?" Jesse asked, confused about the red, seeing as she had coincidentally decided to wear a red shirt as well. 

Harry looked at the three of them and shook his head. "I don't even want to know what's going on."

"It's Autism Acceptance Day!" Cisco announced brightly. "The day where autistic people reclaim Autism Awareness Day from that purported charity Autism Speaks."

"Yeah, I've heard about them." Harry said. "They aren't very charitable if only four percent of all money raised goes to actually helping autistic families. They're not much better in Earth-2." He folded his arms. "But what I _am_ curious about, Ramon, is what it's got to do with _you_."

"Well..." Cisco tucked his hair behind his ear. 

"Oh, I see." Harry nodded in understanding without Cisco having to say anything. "Carry on then. We've got work to do today." 

"Hey, has anyone seen Barry?" Jesse asked. "Only he's late."

"Oh, Barry's always late. He thinks his connection with the Speed Force gets him anywhere on time, even if he wakes up ten minutes late for a dental appointment." Caitlin chuckled. 

"That's uh... That's true about Barry." Cisco said, taking his phone from his pocket. 

"So Autism Acceptance Day." Jesse raised an eyebrow. 

"Yeah. People aren't very accepting of autism here on Earth-1." Cisco explained. "They'd rather look for impossible cures and prenatal testing so the baby can be aborted." 

"Isn't that... Eugenics?" 

"Yeah. It is, yeah."

"And that's why you don't like Autism Speaks?"

"One of the reasons." Cisco said with a nod. 

" _One_ of the reasons?" Jesse asked. 

Barry zipped into the Cortex wearing all baby blue clothes. "Hey guys! Don't forget to Light it Up Blue today! Seeing as you're all wearing red, that is."

"That's another reason." Cisco sighed. "Barry, come on, man, I thought we were friends."

"We _are_ friends, Cisco. I have no idea what this is about."

"Well, it's not about Zoom." 

"It's about your clothes, Barry." Caitlin spoke up. "You're making Cisco feel uneasy and... Well, hostile."

"Why?"

"Well, it's Autism Acceptance Day."

"I know, and I'm lighting it up blue..."

"Barry, it's harmful. Cisco's upset."

"Autism Speaks chose blue because more boys are diagnosed than girls." Cisco explained. "White middle class boys, specifically. They don't think that it's the ablism of doctors diagnosing these kids who don't believe that girls and people of color can be autistic."

"Cisco?"

"Barry, I'm on the spectrum." Cisco said carefully. "I have autism." He took a deep breath. "And it hurts me deep when Autism Speaks calls me 'a crisis' or 'a burden' and... 'Barely living'."

"Geez, Cisco..." Barry frowned. "I didn't know that. Any of it."

"They came out with a video called 'I Am Autism' that is basically saying that autistic kids are a crisis and even compares it with diseases like diabetes and cancer and even AIDS." Caitlin wrinkled her nose. "I stopped the Light it Up Blue thing after Cisco showed me that. It's disgusting and untrue." 

"They did that on Earth-2." Harry added. "I guess _some_ things aren't so different." 

"And they did another one where a mother was saying how much she wanted to kill herself and murder her autistic child _in front of_ the autistic child, saying she only stopped because of her non autistic child." Caitlin shook her head in disgust.

"Yeah, that was Autism Every Day." Cisco said. "She kept saying what a burden her autistic daughter was to her. And the kid's just there. What's she gonna make of it?"

"They promote stigma, Barry. You've known Cisco for two years now. When has he ever come out as autistic to you?" Caitlin raised an eyebrow. "His secret identity isn't Vibe, Barry, it's being autistic." 

"You lied to me?" Barry frowned at Cisco, who looked hurt. 

"I didn't lie, Barry. I just didn't tell you." He looked away. "I was afraid that if I told you, you'd see me as nothing but a stereotype of a... An infodumping, screaming, crying and rocking autistic person-the same stereotypes that Autism Speaks perpetuates. A lot of the ways I've been treated is because of my autistic traits. Though it's a part of me-well, it is me. Without autism, I wouldn't be the Cisco Ramon that you know now. But those stereotypes make me uncomfortable sharing my identity..."

"Why does Caitlin know?"

"I'm _his_ doctor as well, Barry." Caitlin said. "And maybe I did... Treat him a little differently at first." She admitted. "Like I was afraid he was going to rock and flap and scream in my face, even though he was super friendly when we first met... Then I actually saw him having a meltdown. All he did was cry and chew on my pen."

"Because I couldn't figure out something with the mechanics of the particle accelerator." Cisco said. "Probably. I mean, it was so long ago." 

"That's when I realized the stereotypes didn't belong to him. He was too high functioning." 

"But I put her straight on functioning labels as well." Cisco said with a nod.

"I'm sorry, what are functioning labels?" Jesse asked. "I've never heard of that."

"Ablist." Cisco said without missing a beat. 

"According to Autism Speaks, someone like Cisco would be considered 'high functioning', while someone who can't talk or pass as 'normal' would be considered 'low functioning'." 

"Yeah okay." Jesse nodded. "How is that bad?" 

"Because I might be able to do something one day and not another." Cisco replied. "I have to leave reminders in my apartment to... To comb my hair. To wash. It doesn't make me 'a burden' like they claim. It makes me... Well, those are my needs. I'm a human being, not less than." 

"Is that...?" 

"The implication? No, they pretty much say it outright." 

"Cisco! That's horrendous!" Jesse shook her head. 

"I-I didn't know, man." Barry said. 

"Wait, do they support the ABA..." Harry began. 

"Yes they do." Caitlin nodded. "And I think it's abhorrent." 

"ABA?" Barry questioned.

"Applied Behaviour Analysis." Harry replied. "A very cruel and unusual punishment, known to cause Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in many autistic individuals who have received it."

"How?" Barry asked. 

"Many ABA 'specialists' withhold food and drink from autistic people in their care until they comply. Usually something like making eye contact." Caitlin explained. "Not all of them, I should say, that would be tarring them all with the same brush. But there is a massive problem in the ABA industry. It's abusive and awful. Parents see it as a way to make their autistic kids... Not autistic."

"But autism can't be cured. Only managed." Cisco finished. "In most ABA clinics, they treat us worse than animals."

"Oh, Cisco, you haven't..." Barry brought his hand to his mouth.

Cisco shook his head. "No. _I_ haven't. But I know of autistic people who have. The stories are horrible, Barry. And the guy who invented ABA called the core theory of it to be 'forcing a change in a child’s outward behavior' and that it would, 'effect an inward psychological change'. Basically he thought that forcing someone to act 'normal', he would make them 'normal'."

"And he also called autistic people 'mentally crippled'." Caitlin added. 

"Yeah, he called me mentally crippled." Cisco shook his head in disgust. 

"And in extreme cases of ABA, the autistic person is even _electric shocked_ until they comply." Caitlin said.

"That would be the Judge Rotenberg Center, which Autism Speaks is firmly aligned with." Cisco said. "They torture people there. It's horrible. Very horrible."

"And you know about this, Caitlin?" Barry looked to Caitlin.

"Yeah." Caitlin said with a nod. "Cisco told me. Autism Speaks are awful. They just spread propaganda about children being stolen or missing..."

"Except I'm right here." Cisco said with a small sigh. "Put plain and simple, they're a hate group. There's a reason John Elder Robison resigned from his role for the organization. They liked to squash his autistic voice too."

"John Elder Robison?" Jesse questioned. "That name sounds familiar somehow."

"Yes, I believe Robison was on Earth-2." Harry said with a sharp nod. "He was the sole autistic person who worked for Autism Speaks, but resigned after he couldn't handle their vitriol."

"Something like that, Harry, yeah." Cisco said, looking down at his phone. "He uh... Worked for them and resigned, saying that 'Autism Speaks is the only major medical or mental health nonprofit whose legitimacy is constantly challenged by a large percentage of the people affected by the condition they target'." He read. "Among other things." 

"He also wrote a book called _Look Me In the Eye_." Caitlin added.

"I... Didn't know that." Barry said. "So why are you wearing red?" 

"For autism acceptance-hashtag-are you aware of me now." Cisco replied with a shrug. 

"I got you." Barry said with a nod. "I'll be right back." 

Barry zipped out of the Cortex. 

"For the record, Cisco, I don't care if you're autistic or not." Jesse said. "You're kind and funny and everything that awful organization says you're not."

Cisco smiled. "Thanks, Jesse." 

Barry zipped back into the Cortex, this time wearing a red sweater and jeans. 

"I left a note for Joe, Iris and Wally." Barry said. "Now I know all that, lighting it up blue is wrong. I don't want you cured or gone, Cisco. I don't know what I'd do without my bro." He smiled.

"Me either, Barry." Cisco said.

"Luckily for me, my Flash suit _is_ red." Barry chuckled. "But I'll wear red today even when I'm _out_ of my Flash suit."

"That's all I want, dude." Cisco smiled back. "That's all I want." 

**Author's Note:**

> This is set on April 2nd 2016, so today, at time of writing. Also, all information is true as of time of writing.  
> I'm an autistic adult and one of my main autistic headcanons is Autistic!Cisco Ramon, mainly because we're so alike. I've never seen someone so close to myself portrayed on screen before. From the social awkwardness, the 'straight up F' in gym, to the infodumping and the socially inappropriate remarks.  
> Basically, I tried to keep everyone in character as I explained why Autism Speaks is bad. All of this is true, you can look it up. So... Thanks for listening to this little PSA on why you shouldn't Light It Up Blue this April. Go Red Instead.


End file.
